Road test: New Land Rover takes you on a voyage of Discovery

HERE’S one for you to mull over: Name a car that can carry you and six passengers to the ends of the Earth in air-cushioned comfort, is as happy hauling a horsebox across the Highland Show car park as it is beating a path through the Serengeti or the stockbroker belt and which, by journey’s end, will have all your passengers talking animatedly about how advanced Land Rovers have become since Uncle Bertie bought one for the farm back in the Fifties.

OK, that last one limits your choices a bit, and the picture at the top of the page does rather give the game way, but you get the idea: when it comes to munching miles, mountains or a mixture of the two, the Land Rover Discovery has been kicking sand, mud and snow in the faces of pretenders to its throne for the best part of a decade. A series of tweaks for 2012 ought to keep the fourth-generation model ahead of the pack.

At first glance, you’ll wonder what the fuss is about, since external changes are limited to some new alloy wheel designs and… err… that’s about it. The bulk of the overhaul has happened under the bonnet and in the cabin.

One league table in which the Disco lagged behind its rivals a little was emissions, so Land Rover has revised the three-litre V6 turbodiesel engine. In the range-topping HSE model we’re testing, that means power is up 11bhp to 256bhp, torque is a tree-stump-tugging 443lb/ft, but CO2 output drops from 244g/km to 230g/km. Better still, a new 208bhp entry-level version of the same engine emits an even tax-and-planet friendlier 224g/km.

Climb into the cabin, shut the door with a satisfying clunk and take a moment to appreciate the feeling of utter invincibility the Discovery affords. You’ve just donned a great big leather and wood-lined suit of armour, and now you are ready to ride into battle, or even tackle the school run.

The new engine is paired to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, controlled by a Jaguar XF-style rotary selector that rises from the centre console when the engine starts. It’s a real crowd pleaser and proved enough to convince a cousin of mine that he should buy a Discovery instead of the Toyota Land Cruiser he’d been eyeing. Flappy paddles lurk behind the steering wheel but, so slick is the auto box, you’ll never use them.

Other cabin changes include chrome-rimmed steering column stalks and an improved audio and satnav system. The colour touchscreen from which many of the car’s controls are accessed can’t match the latest smartphones for slickness, but it’s a big improvement on its heavily-pixellated predecessor. The HSE gets three sunroofs. Three!

Of course, the ace up the Discovery’s sleeve is its awesome off-road ability. A few flicks of the TerrainResponse system alters suspension heights, throttle settings and traction control to suit almost any challenge, short of cross-channel navigation.

A blooter across a churned-up corner of the Duke of Roxburghe’s estate back in November proved the merits of the “mud and ruts” setting so, last week, I stuck it in grass-gravel-snow mode and charged up and down a steep, twisty and icy side road that hasn’t seen a ray of sunshine since September, trying to do myself a mischief. I failed. The ever-so-clever Disco didn’t step out of line once. Granted, few owners will even scratch at the surface of the car’s off-road potential, but such everyday surefootedness is welcome nonetheless.

“Nice, but I bet it lumbers a bit on B-roads,” remarks a friend as I park the Disco outside his house, having just breezed along a B-road to be there. I’m tempted to counter his ignorance with a punch in the face before driving off again, across his lawn (remember to select the “grass-gravel-snow” setting), but such behaviour would be most unbecoming for a Land Rover driver.

Instead, I advise him that, despite its two-and-a-half ton bulk, the Disco is a surprisingly nimble thing. He can thank the air suspension for that. The meaty engine makes light of getaways from the lights, and visibility is first class, thanks to all that glass and the raised driving position. Cameras fore and aft assist with parking, backing up to a trailer or picking your way round fallen rocks on your trans-Himalayan trip to the shops.

Anything else to tell you? Well, it’ll tow three and a half tons and, according to a chum who owns one, will “hitch your caravan to the back and you’ll STILL overtake everything going up the Alps.”

The Alps? But I’ve already booked this summer’s pitch on a west-coast camp site. Mind you, the spirit of adventure that’s fitted as standard to every Land Rover is extremely intoxicating stuff…

Family! Plot a course for Morar, via the Matterhorn.

VITAL STATS

CAR: Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE

PRICE: £51,195 (£56,035 as tested)

PERFORMANCE: Max speed 124-131mph; 0-60mph 8.9s-10.4s

MPG: 32.1 combined

EMISSIONS: 230g/km